alpha-bits: a chance to nourish your curriculum

GOALS:

to use the science processes to investigate a "common object."
to employ synectics -- the process of putting things together that don't belong together, just to see how much they do belong together -- to dissolve curriculum boundaries.

Questioning Techniques

Convergent Questions -

Hide the box in a bag and ask the children to identify the object inside. They can ask any question that you can answer by saying: yes/no.

Divergent Question -
Suppose we had a magic box of Alpha-Bits and the letters could jump out of the box and form words that would answer any question you may ask. Write down l0 questions you'd like to ask the cereal box.
Classify the questions: are they answerable by ...
- reading research --- printed on the box ( how much do you weigh ? )
- hands-on research --- ( what is the most common letter ? )
- library research --- ( how is cereal made ? )
- fantasy questions --- ( can you swim in milk ? )
Math Time
- Graphing
  Pass out cereal to each class member. Have them push l0 letters to one side, l0 to the other and eat the rest. Make a histogram/bar graph of the vowels.
- Percentages
  What % of the sample is each vowel ? Is this a representative sample ? Try again with the other l0 letters. Are the percentages similar ?
- Extrapolation
  How many letters are there in the box ? Determine how many letters it takes to equal l / l00th of the mass of the box. Extrapolate this datum.
- Statistical Inference
  Using the percentages gained from activity above, estimate the total number of each vowel in the box. Test your inference -- actually count them ... oops... better not eat any before you do this part.
Consumerism
- This box cost $3.79 for 425 g. What is the suggested serving size ?
- What is the cost per serving ? ________ ¢
- How many grams per penny do you get ? ________ g
Language Arts
- Spelling --- Make a list of words that can be formed with the l0 letters. How many science-y words are there. Use abbreviations, too.
- Prose --- Have three students combine their word lists and write sentences. What's the longest word you can spell with 30 letters.
- Syntax --- Why do the sentences sound so 'funny ?' "Dad go work." This is due to children not having three parts of speech: Articles; Conjunctions; Prepositions
Exploration Lesson:
Writing the sentences.

Concept Introduction Lesson:
Write these words: articles, conjunctions, prepositions on the board and list examples of each. What are these words and how do they make the 'flow ?'

Concept Application Lesson:
Give students several sentences and have them circle the articles, conjunctions, prepositions.

Social Studies
Exploration Lesson:
Make a list of all the people responsible for getting the box of cereal into the classroom. Which people have science meshed with their careers
? Don't forget the mother of the truck driver; the tax agent for the company; the person who painted the white line on the highway; the person who made the saw that cut the tree that was planted by a person to make the paper to form the box.
The list is an endless invitation to creativity.

Concept Introduction Lesson: INTERDEPENDENCE .

We live in a society where one group of people depends on another group. When truckers strike then the cereal company closes down.

Concept Application Lesson:
Find an example from the newspaper where some segment of society did something that influences the livlihood of people "far away" (either in distance or apparent relatedness)

Health
Examine the box to find out the nutritional contents of the cereal. Measure out (by volume and mass) the suggested daily "bowl" ... and estimate how many "bowls" are in the box.
What percent of the cereal is carbohydrates ?
Note: 28.35 grams = l oz; so if they say in a one ounce serving there are 25 g of carbohydrates; that is --
88.2% [ 25g / 28.35g ].

Mythology / Astronomy
Ceres is the Roman goddess of agriculture ... Ceres ... Cereal ? Demeter is the Greek goddess of agriculture: "pass the Demetral ?" Ceres is the name of the largest asteroid between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Hmmm -- what are asteroids ? And where are they ?

Economics

What are farm subsidies ? Are they good or bad? Ask some farm parents to visit your class and explain the economics of growing the cereal grains amidst government "weeds" { rules and regulations }.

Science-Technology-Society / Ethics
Some cars burn ethanol / gas-ahol ... chemicals derived from grains. Is is moral that we should burn FOOD to drive our cars while many people in Coles County are undernurished ? But gas-ahol doesn't pollute as much as regular gasoline, so . . .

9 / 28r / 95